How to Cook Steak: Steak Recipe with Easy Wine Sauce

This is a lovely steak recipe, complete with accompanying wine sauce.

It requires few ingredients except a tender piece of steak and your favorite red wine.

You can make this sauce without wine as well.

Just substitute bouillon for the red wine in the recipe.

The butter adds a bit of richness and gloss to the sauce.

I wouldn't spoil it by using margarine in place of the butter but that's your choice.

I really think that there are some recipes that just demand a bit of butter and this is one of them.

Cooking steak to perfection is easy when you have a recipe like this one.

It is a 30 minute meal from start to finish, complete with side dishes, which should be cooking while you have the steak going.

Steak with Wine Sauce

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons salad oil
2 pounds beef steak, 3/4 to 1 inch thick, cut into 4 steaks, or 4 - 8 ounce steaks
1/2 cup beef bouillon or dry red wine
2 tablespoons softened butter
salt and pepper

Put the first amount of butter and the oil in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. When the butter has foamed and the foam then begins to subside, you are ready to cook the steak.

Fry the steaks on one side for 3- 4 minutes. Turn them and brown on the other side for 3 to 4 minutes, depending on desired degree of doneness. Remove the steaks to a hot platter and season them with salt and pepper. Keep them warm while you make the sauce.

Pour the fat from the skillet. Add the dry red wine (or beef bouillon) and cook over high heat. Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan and boil until the liquid is reduced almost to a syrup. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until it has melted. Pour the sauce over the steak to serve.

Makes 4 servings.

• You can test for doneness by cutting a small incision in the steak. It really isn't best to test this way, as the juices run out of the steak and it becomes less tender than it could be.
• When you learn how to cook steak like the pros, they show you how to test doneness by pressing a bit on the top of the steak. The less "give" it has, the more cooked it is. For most of us though, it is trial and error until you have cooked steak a few times and begin to learn how many minutes it needs to be cooked to be right for your tastes.
• Generally 3 to 4 minutes per side on a steak that is 3/4 to 1 inch thick, will be medium to medium rare.